Best of our wild blogs: 26 Jan 10

Coming soon: Singapore's new natural history museum!
from wild shores of singapore

Will there be dolphins at Resorts World Sentosa?
from wild shores of singapore

A head for honey
from The annotated budak and Frills and feathers.

Nature in Singapore: worms transformed and good and bad vines
from Celebrating Singapore's BioDiversity!

Vanishing Finlaysonia: status of a rare mangrove plant
from wild shores of singapore

Common Myna with deformed bill
from Bird Ecology Study Group

Ghost Crab @ Changi 24Jan2010
from sgbeachbum

Paddyfield Pipit taking a sand bath
from Bird Ecology Study Group

Saturday CJ walk with NIE Green Club
from Adventures with the Naked Hermit Crabs

Thu 28 Jan 2010: 12pm @ SZG - Bob Cook (WCS) "Defining the Zoological Conservation Organization of the 21st Century - The Wildlife Conservation Society Model"
from ecotax at Yahoo! Groups

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Singapore needs to build capabilities in understanding climate change

Hetty Musfirah, Channel NewsAsia 25 Jan 10;

SINGAPORE : Environment and Water Resources Minister Yaacob Ibrahim on Monday said that Singapore needs to build up capabilities in understanding climate change.

This will help the country and the region be better prepared for the impact of climate change and its effect on weather systems.

Dr Yaacob was speaking to experts who are meeting in Singapore for the first time to discuss the impact of typhoons in Asia.

The Asia Pacific Region is one of the most vulnerable areas to natural disasters, and Singapore has been part of a 14-member UN-ESCAP/World Meteorological Organisation Typhoon Committee since 1997.

Last year, more than 300 people died in the path of Typhoon Ketsana when it struck Southeast Asia.

From 1950 to 2005, more than half of the worldwide deaths caused by natural disasters occurred in this region, and many of the deaths were typhoon-related.

Wind storms and floods associated with typhoons accounted for 57 per cent or some US$33 billion of the economic losses in this region in the same period.

Singapore is spared such devastation due to its location, but Dr Yaacob said that there is still a need to be prepared.

Typhoon Vemai, which struck in 2001 for example, brought on heavy rainfall, flash floods and even caused disruption to flights in Singapore.

Dr Yaacob said: "Typhoons are powerful ... and their influence can extend to hundreds and thousands of kilometres beyond, bringing in dry weather in one part and wet weather in another.

"They can significantly affect the regional rainfall patterns. Our climate scientists in MSD (Meteorological Services Division) will therefore collaborate with experts in the region to better understand the relationships between climate change and typhoons."

Singapore's MSD said it plans to hire more climate scientists and take on research.

Foong Chee Leong, director-general, Meteorological Services Division, said: "We have already started work with the US International Research Institute for Climate and Society on how to have short-term weather forecasts.

"So with this short-term weather forecast, we are able to roughly give an estimate in the next three months or six months, what is the average rainfall like.

"This will be very useful for our colleagues in the Public Utilities Board in planning the water resources. So we want to know climate change - will it affect our afternoon showers, whether it will cause the showers to be more intense, and as a result, how it affects our drainage system.

"The meteorological services has all along been focusing on weather services; now we are going to enhance and build capabilities to meet the new challenges of climate change.

"In other words, we have more climate scientists in MSD, so that we can look into short-term weather protection, the most important is long-term prediction, and all these results will help the policy maker in deciding on adaptation measure, how we can better protect our island state from climate change."

Seventy experts in Singapore said they have their work cut out for them, even though the committee has been developing such strategies for over 40 years. As cities get more populated, strategies for evacuation - such as good roads - have become just as important. - CNA/ms


Met Service conducting climate change research
Grace Chua Straits Times 26 Jan 10;

SINGAPORE'S weatherman is going head-on into climate change research.

The Meteorological Services Division, under the National Environment Agency, is working with institutes here and abroad to examine regional climate change, aiming to predict climate patterns more effectively.

Yesterday, Minister for the Environment and Water Resources Yaacob Ibrahim announced that the division will study regional climate change with the Centre for Environmental Sensing and Modelling (Censam), a Singapore-MIT Alliance research institute based at the National University of Singapore.

It is also collaborating with institutes like the British Met Office's Hadley Climate Centre to more reliably predict short- and long-term regional climate, he added. Dr Yaacob was speaking at the opening of a meeting of Asia-Pacific countries this week on typhoon planning and mitigation measures.

The Typhoon Committee, organised by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific and the World Meteorological Organisation, is being held for the 42nd time, but this is its first time in Singapore.

On the sidelines of the same meeting, Meteorological Services Division director-general Foong Chee Leong said the division needed more climate scientists to study and model the climate. The division has just three officers in its research and development arm, out of a staff strength of about 145, and is looking to double that number to six.

They could be trained locally or overseas, he said.

The reason for boosting climate research: Climate change will affect the weather, Dr Foong said, and more extreme weather events such as typhoons are likely to occur.

Singapore may not be directly affected by typhoons, but it is not spared from their indirect effects on the aviation or shipping industries.

In December 2001, Typhoon Vamei formed near Singapore, producing heavy rainfall here and delaying or diverting 50 flights at Changi Airport.

The study with Censam will last about three years, said the centre's Dr Wang Chien.

It will help climate scientists tell if Singapore and the region will become hotter or wetter, or if it will rain for more days each year, for example.

This will help government planners better prepare for weather events such as the storm that flooded Bukit Timah last year, Dr Wang added.


Singapore part of efforts to tackle typhoon effects
Today Online 26 Jan 10;

Singapore needs to build up its academic capabilities in understanding climate change, and this will help the country - and the region - be better prepared for its impact on weather systems, said Minister for the Environment and Water Resources Yaacob Ibrahim.

He was speaking to experts meeting in Singapore to discuss ways of lessening the impact of typhoons in Asia, such as Ketsana whose rampage across South-east Asia last year left more than 300 dead. Singapore has been part of the 14-member United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific/World Meteorological Organisation Typhoon Committee since 1997. And while the Republic has been spared the devastation due to its location, said Dr Yaacob, there is still a need to be prepared. Typhoon Vemai in 2001, for example, brought on heavy rainfall, flash floods and even caused disruption to flights in Singapore.

Local climate scientists will collaborate with regional experts to better understand the relationships between climate change and typhoons.

Hetty Musfirah

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Economic growth 'cannot continue'

BBC News 25 Jan 10;

Continuing global economic growth "is not possible" if nations are to tackle climate change, a report by an environmental think-tank has warned.

The New Economics Foundation (Nef) said "unprecedented and probably impossible" carbon reductions would be needed to hold temperature rises below 2C (3.6F).

Scientists say exceeding this limit could lead to dangerous global warming.

"We urgently need to change our economy to live within its environmental budget," said Nef's policy director.

Andrew Simms added: "There is no global, environmental central bank to bail us out if we become ecologically bankrupt."

None of the existing models or policies could "square the circle" of economic growth with climate safety, Nef added.

'No magic bullets'

In the report, Growth Isn't Possible, the authors looked at the main models for climate change and energy use in the global economy.



They then considered whether economic growth could be maintained while "retaining a good likelihood" of limiting the global average temperature to within 2C of pre-industrial levels.

The report concluded that a growth rate of just 3%, the "carbon intensity" of the global economy would need to fall by 95% by 2050 from 2002 levels. This would require an average annual reduction of 6.5%.

However, the authors said that the world's carbon intensity had "flatlined" between 2000 and 2007.

"For each year the target was missed, the necessary improvements would grow higher still," they observed.

The findings also suggested that there was no proven technological advance that would allow "business as usual" to continue.

"Magic bullets - such as carbon capture and storage, nuclear or even geo-engineering - are potentially dangerous distractions from more human-scale solutions," said co-author Victoria Johnson, Nef's lead researcher for the climate change and energy programme.

She added that there was growing support for community-scale projects, such as decentralised energy systems, but support from governments was needed.

"At the moment, magic bullets... are getting much of the funding and political attention, but are missing the targets," Dr Johnson said.

"Our research shows that to prevent runaway climate change, this needs to change."

The report concluded that an economy that respected environmental thresholds, which include biodiversity and the finite availability of natural resources, would be better placed to deliver human well-being in the long run.

Tom Clougherty, executive director of the Adam Smith Institute, a free-market think-thank, said Nef's report exhibited "a complete lack of understanding of economics and, indeed, human development".

"It is precisely this economic growth which will lift the poor out of poverty and improve the environmental standards that really matter to people - like clean air and water - in the process, as it has done throughout human history," he told BBC News.

"There's only one good thing I can say for the Nef's report, and that's that it is honest. Its authors admit that they want us to be poorer and to lead more restricted lives for the sake of their faddish beliefs."

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Biodiversity: Words Are Not Enough

Stephen Leahy, IPS 25 Jan 10;

PARIS, Jan 25, 2010 (IPS) - Words are not enough to stop the rapidly unraveling web of life, agreed heads of state and international conservation organisations at a high-level meeting that ended here last Friday.

"How can we fund specific actions to stop this?" asked Henri Djombo, minister of sustainable development, forestry economy and environment for the Republic of Congo.

"There is never enough funding, never enough political will, especially in the wealthy countries. So what can we do?" Djombo told about 150 delegates attending a high-level event to launch the International Year of Biodiversity at the Paris headquarters of the U.N. Scientific, Educational and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO).

"Our wealth and well-being is being undermined by not acting," said a clearly frustrated Djombo through a translator.

One reason for inaction is that so few people know what biodiversity is. In the case of France, 75 percent people of surveyed didn't know what it meant, said Chantal Jouanno, France's state secretary for ecology. And what most people want are new roads, not alternative forms of transport, Jouanno said.

"We have forgotten nature is the source of life on our planet, that nature provides the basic infrastructure for all economic activity and for our cultures," said Julia Marton-Lefèvre, director-general of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

"Imagine if 30 percent of your friends faced extinction and that risk was increasing," Marton-Lefèvre told IPS, referring to the fact that 30 percent of all species are threatened - including 22 percent of all mammals who are our biological 'cousins'.

She also noted that studies have show that at least 60 percent of all ecosystems are degraded and in decline. In making a similar parallel she asks: "What would you do if 60 percent of your farm had become degraded and was getting worse?"

"Life has taken billions of years to evolve and we are part of that, we are enmeshed in it. But we suffer from a lack of understanding of this reality and a peculiar obstinacy," E.O. Wilson, the eminent octogenarian biologist from Harvard University, told delegates.

"It is the little things, microscopic animals like nematodes, that truly run our world," said Wilson, who coined the term biodiversity decades ago.

A single teaspoon of soil may contain a billion bacteria, and perhaps 6,000 different species, and most of those are unknown. However, we do know each has evolved to fit a particular niche and perform a special function but we know almost nothing about those, he said.

"This is the world as it exists. We depend on these... But the great tragedy unfolding presently it is human actions are destroying countless species and ecosystems before we even know they exist," Wilson said.

The species extinction rate is 1,000 times higher than the normal and it's going higher. Without serious action to reduce this, half of all existing species will be gone by 2100, never to exist again. No one knows what that really portends for Earth's life support systems that humans rely on.

The central problem, Wilson said, is how to sustain ourselves on this planet while improving the lives of the world's poorest billion and preserving nature. There is little change for the poor if their environment is devastated, nor can nature survive a billion land-hungry people.

"We know how to do this and we have the resources," he reminded delegates.

For its part, the IUCN has set ambitious new goals to boost protection of existing conservation lands and increase the size of protected areas from the current 12 percent of land to 15 percent by 2015.

Less than one percent of the oceans are presently protected but the dire state of global fish stocks and coral reefs means urgent action is needed to protect 15 percent by 2020, said Marton-Lefèvre.

To truly take significant action to protect nature requires a re-examination of the economic system that perpetuates the drivers of biodiversity loss, said Victoria Tauli-Corpuz, chairperson of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues.

"Market mechanisms don't integrate ecology, culture, fairness, and equity. We need to diagnose the real causes of the extinction crisis - the current economic system," Tauli-Corpuz told IPS.

The present economic system treats nature as something to exploit, she explained. Indigenous peoples use nature too, for food, cutting trees to build their houses, and sometimes to earn money.

However, there is a strong cultural value of "enough" - a balance between real human and community needs and the need to preserve nature.

"In our community [in the Philippines], we have strict rules. If someone cuts a tree, it must be used for themselves, not to be sold, and they have to replant," she said. "These customary laws work and that's why most of the world's remaining forests are in the hands of indigenous peoples."

Wealth in traditional communities is defined by having good relations within the community and with nature, not acquisition of money and material things, she added. Those are the values that protect nature.

"In any place where individual rights predominate, people don't care about nature," Tauli-Corpuz said.

Although coming from a very different perspective, E.O. Wilson has reached a similar conclusion. Protecting nature and helping the world's poorest is "an ethical and spiritual decision".

He offered one last warning to delegates: "In future, each nation will be defined by what it refuses to destroy."

Read more!

Huge Setiu shrimp farm threatens wildlife and people

Much at stake
Hilary Chiew, The Star 26 Jan 10;

The opening of a huge shrimp farm scheme in Setiu, Terengganu, threatens traditional livelihoods and wild habitats.

SETIU is set to be transformed into the country’s aquaculture showcase, courtesy of the RM60bil second economic stimulus package announced last March.

A mere 45-minute drive from Kuala Terengganu, it boasts a mesmerising rural landscape.

Facing the South China Sea are swaying coconut palms and sandy beaches. Not far into the hinterland, nipah and nibong palms line the banks of several rivers that run through the district. These bodies of water have sustained a unique fishery for generations in this district that is listed as the second poorest in the country.

Fishermen in several villages scattered throughout the Penarik area switch their fishing grounds between the sea and the rivers depending on the monsoon seasons as well as throughout the year. They could be catching fish in the sea in the morning and netting prawns from the streams in the evening.

The area also boasts possibly the country’s largest gelam (Melaleuca cajuputi) forest – a coastal heath forest – that conservationists say is little-documented but represents a vital ecosystem that should be conserved.

In fact, the area encompasses an array of inter-connected ecosystems that includes a brackish water lagoon, a riverine complex comprising the Setiu, Caluk, Bari and Merang rivers, and several wetland habitats such as riparian forest, peat swamp forest, freshwater swamp forest, gelam forest, mangroves and seagrass beds.

The diverse natural features of Setiu have been recognised in the Eastern Corridor Economic Region Master Plan for eco-tourism potential.

However, a large tract of the gelam forest has been felled to make way for Phase One of the 1,000ha Integrated Shrimp Aquaculture Park (i-SHARP). The Detailed Environmental Impact Assessment (DEIA) prepared by Blue Archipelago Bhd (BAB) was approved by the Department of Environment (DOE) in early September. The subsidiary of Khazanah Holdings, a government-linked company, has received RM10bil under the total RM60bil stimulus package to boost the economy.

Conservationists are perplexed by the approval of the project as it is sited on an Environmentally Sensitive Area Rank One according to the National Physical Plan, where only low impact educational and eco-tourism activities are permitted.

Apart from the loss of the gelam forest, the scheme to raise black tiger prawn and white-leg shrimp is sited along Sungai Caluk which is within the habitat of the river terrapin (Batagur affinis) and painted terrapin (Batagur borneoensis), two of the world’s top 25 most endangered freshwater turtles.

As the project intends to draw sea water through a tunnel for its 500 ponds, critics fear that the discharge of highly saline effluent into the river will cause a chain reaction that will affect the river ecology and its flora and fauna.

BAB in an e-mail response to StarTwo, argues that Sungai Caluk is not a freshwater river as it is connected to the sea via Kuala Merang and Kuala Setiu.

“As such, the salinity of the river can rise as high as 4.45 parts per thousand (ppt). Our water quality modelling shows that our water discharge will have minimal impact to the river system.

“However, to be doubly sure of our data, we are working closely with the DOE to monitor the water quality of the river for a period of 12 months so that real and accurate data can be used to remodel the impact of our water discharge. Should the result using the new data show a significant impact, we will not hesitate to further add mitigation measures to reduce the impact to the river system,” it said.

Conservationists have suggested an additional tunnel to discharge the effluent back to the sea. BAB, which is investing RM200mil in i-SHARP, did not respond to a question on why it was not taking up the suggestion.

BAB was incorporated in 2007 to spearhead the development of shrimp farming and its first project was a joint-venture with the Kedah state government to take over the faltering 360ha Kerpan aquaculture project. Kerpan was a black mark in the country’s aquaculture industy. Fertile rice farms were bulldozed to make way for the project in the mid-1990s. The Government had to deploy anti-riot police to quash the rural protestors.

World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) questions the accuracy of the DEIA, saying that its data were from samples collected from a day’s observation.

According to the latest data from the Department of Irrigation and Drainage (DID) which the DEIA consultants referred to, the salinity reading is well below 1ppt at all its monitoring stations.

WWF estimates that the project could discharge up to an equivalent of 50,000kg of salt into the river every hour when it is fully operational in 2011.

“It is doubtful that Sungai Caluk will have the capacity to dilute such a high concentration of salt, especially during the dry season when the river flow and volume are low. This will have a devastating impact on the river ecosystem and the river terrapins,” warns its executive director Dr Dionysius Sharma.

Another questionable aspect of river water modelling in the DEIA is the flow rate data. DID’s data during the monsoon in November and December last year was below 50 cu/m per second while those presented by the consultant was 55 cu/m per second outside the monsoon season. The flow rate will determine the dilution ability of the river.

Sharma reveals that as a DEIA review panel member, WWF has highlighted gaps and raised questions on the water quality modelling study in the DEIA and is of the opinion that the study did not accurately represent the dilution capacity of Sungai Caluk during the wet and dry periods.

“There was no official response to the questions and issues we raised on the DEIA,” says Sharma.

BAB, meanwhile, maintains that the DEIA is a result of extensive consultation involving 12 government state agencies, four federal agencies, 727 households in seven villages and non-governmental organisations such as WWF and Wetlands International. It says feedback from these parties have been incorporated into the report. It expresses willingness to address concerns about the potential environmental impact of i-SHARP.

Although the DEIA concluded that the project location does not affect any conservation plans, the Setiu lagoon as well as parts of the gelam forests are to be incorporated into the proposed Setiu State Park.

As the proposed park is reflected in the Setiu Local Plan, a document gazetted in February 2007, Sharma questions the legality surrounding the project approval by the state as well as the DEIA approval which were given without amendments to the Local Plan. He points out that under the Town and Country Planning Act 1976, proposed amendments to land use should go through a public review.

To this, BAB says the state executive committee has approved the rezoning of the area and it has also obtained the planning permission for the project and that the state planning authority will update the Local Plan accordingly.

It also says that it practises zero-burning and mulch the biomass from land-clearing at the site. However, charred logs seen at the site in November indicated that fire had been used to clear debris.

No honey, no money
The Star 26 Jan 10;

UNLIKE previous years, Zainal Ghani is not collecting honey from the gelam forest in Sungai Caluk. Instead, he is surveying felled trees in the cleared forest. Gelam trees bloom in the third quarter of the year. Bees collect the nectar from the flowers to produce the honey that is a traditional source of income for villagers like Zainal in the Penarik area in Setiu.

“Many people collect honey from these forests. Between September and November every year, we come in our boats and collect the bee nests on alternate days. A team of three persons can easily gather two or three nests in half a day.

“Each of us can earn RM200 from selling the honey in the market,” says Zainal. The 40-year-old from Kampung Beris Tok Ku learnt the skill of collecting honey from his father.

The loss of income from honey-collection is just the beginning of an uncertain future for Zainal and his fellow villagers. The impacts from the development of the Integrated Shrimp Aquaculture Park (i-SHARP) will alter the subsistence economy in the second poorest district in the country.

Fisherman Malek Yunus, 55, is convinced that the high salinity level in the effluent will contaminate the river and affect catch.

“How come they can build the tunnel to bring in sea water but not to discharge it properly back into the sea? We’re not against the project but it shouldn’t destroy our source of livelihood. Riverine fishery is more stable than off-shore fishery. They complement each other and provide us a predictable source of income.”

Malek says the basic household income is more than the RM500 claimed by the project consultants. He says on average, the fishermen earn RM70 a day from a variety of work. Villagers also cultivate watermelons, rice and oil palm.

He claims that the consultants did not meet any of the 40 fishermen of Kampung Beris Tok Ku although they are the ones dependent on an unspoilt Sungai Caluk.

“Perhaps they spoke to the village development committee but these people are not the fisherfolk,” he says.

Mohd Azuan Kassim of Kampung Mangkuk was offered a job by i-SHARP but he prefers to work on his own cage culture raising fish like barrumundi. He says villagers were not informed of the discharge.

“When we found out later, we disagreed with the project but we’re helpless. The effluent will flow through this part of Sungai Setiu and will affect my fish,” says the 27-year-old. He says the river is bountiful and provides a sustainable source of income for those who are willing to toil.

Further downstream at the Setiu lagoon in Gong Batu, the 80-odd cage culture ventures that were initiated by the Fisheries Department in the 1990s as part of a poverty alleviation scheme, also face an uncertain future.

Kamarudin Long is resigned to losing his oyster farm. He was looking forward to the declaration of the Setiu State Park but now laments: “What’s the point of having a state park only to destroy it?”

The swamps and lagoon are important spawning grounds for all sorts of marine life. World Wide Fund for Nature says 60% of wild grouper fries and oyster seeds in the country are sourced from this region.

Turtles in trouble
The Star 26 Jan 10;

FOR turtle conservationist Dr Chan Eng Heng, the Integrated Shrimp Aquaculture Park (i-SHARP) is bad news for the survival of two critically endangered terrapins.

In 2004, she pioneered research and conservation work on the river terrapin (Batagur affinis) and painted terrapin (Batagur borneoensis) populations in Sungai Setiu.

Upon her retirement from University of Malaysia Terengganu early this year, the marine reptile scientist set up the Turtle Conservation Centre (TCC) to continue efforts to augment the low nesting by restocking the population.

This is done by purchasing terrapin eggs from villagers, incubating them and releasing the hatchlings into the river. Thanks to Chan’s project, which has gained international recognition and financial support, the terrapin population has a chance to recover after decades of egg exploitation by the locals.

So far, 1,777 eggs have been purchased for incubation, representing half of the total number of eggs deposited mostly in Tebing Pasir Penarik, the major nesting bank for the river terrapin.

From these eggs, 1,128 hatchlings (overall hatch rate of 63.5%) have been produced and 500 released into Sungai Setiu. The hatchlings are partly raised in captivity before being released.

“Therefore, apart from the reproductively active adult population, the Setiu river network has a healthy population of young and sub-adult river terrapins ranging from three to 10 years of age. This developing population will continue to increase under the TCC’s efforts and will become the future generations of reproductively active river terrapins in Setiu,” explains Chan.

TCC has found that the terrapins typically occur in water with relatively low salinity of one to three parts per thousands. Hence, she has raised the alarm on the i-SHARP project that intends to discharge used sea water into Sungai Caluk, a tributary of Sungai Setiu.

“Studies (elsewhere) have found river terrapins to progressively lose weight as salinity increases. Their physiological conditions are impaired and they eventually stop feeding. Changes in the salinity regime of the Setiu river system will have dire effects on freshwater fish and prawns.

“The health of the river and its natural hydrological conditions must be maintained in pristine condition for it to continue supporting critically endangered wildlife, the livelihoods of fisherfolk and local inhabitants.”

She also criticises the Detailed Environmental Impact Assessment for writing off many impacts as “non-issues”.

BAB has proposed the creation of Friends of Sungai Caluk (FSC) to lead conservation activities in a 2ha conservation site to preserve Sungai Caluk and its wildlife, as well as manage riparian vegetation along the river.

“We are presently in talks with the University of Malaysia Terengganu to conduct joint research as well as conservation activities under FSC,” it says.

Read more!

Turtles aren't coming back says Malaysian don

Zainuddin Muhammad, New Straits Times 25 Jan 10;

KUALA TERENGGANU: The turtles are not coming back to Batu Buruk beach, here.

It was sad but true, said Turtle Conservation Centre co-founder and chief executive officer Prof Dr Chan Eng Heng who is one of the country's leading experts in turtle research, conservation and education.

Commenting on the recent find of a turtle's nest at Batu Buruk beach, the retired marine biodiversity and conservation professor at Universiti Malaysia Terengganu, said it was an isolated case where one or two turtles found their way back to their old nesting ground.

"I have been told that eight green turtle hatchlings were found crawling at the Batu Buruk Beach Resort and later, officers from the Turtle and Marine Ecosystem Centre (Tumec) in Rantau Abang, Dungun, found a nest with more than 70 eggs in it.

"It is good to see turtles making an appearance again at the beach but chances are that the turtle that laid the eggs is what's left of the old batch of turtles that used to nest here and we are not likely to see another turtle for a while."

She said similar occurences could also be detected at other beaches in the state such at Mengabang Telipot, Batu Rakit and Chendering.

"But all is not lost as the number of turtle landings and nestings in Ma'daerah, Pulau Redang, Pulau Perhentian and Rantau Abang have been encouraging in the past few years," she said.

Tumec supervisor Abdul Halim Mat Nor said the eight baby turtles from Batu Buruk had been relocated to the Turtles Information Centre in Rantau Abang.

"The turtle that laid the eggs must have landed on the beach in December but out of 83 eggs, only eight hatched as the rest were ruined after being prematurely exposed to sea water.

"Too bad the turtle was not a leatherback, as Batu Buruk used to be the nesting ground for the largest of all living sea turtles," said Halim, who revealed there were nine leatherback landings in Rantau Abang last year.

Read more!

NGOs welcome Malaysia's transparency to curb illegal wildlife trade

The Star 26 Jan 10;

PETALING JAYA: Environmental groups welcome the Government’s intention to make wildlife special permits approval a more transparent process, to curb the illegal trade in wildlife contributing to species extinction.

World Wide Fund for Nature Malaysia executive director Datuk Dr Dionysius Sharma suggested that a formal committee be set up with relevant non-governmental organisations (NGOs) sitting in by invitation.

“This committee also needs a specific Terms of Reference (ToR) so its role and responsibilities are known, and the membership can be reviewed yearly,” he said, adding that wildlife offenders should not be granted special permits.

On Sunday, The Star reported Natural Resources and Environment (NRE) Minister Datuk Seri Douglas Uggah Embas as saying that he had taken over the chairmanship of the Special Permit Committee from the director-general of the Department of Wildlife and National Parks (Perhilitan).

He also said the ministry would solicit NGOs’ views to improve the Special Permit system which has been blamed for facilitating animal smuggling.

Traffic Southeast Asia, the wildlife trade monitoring network, praised the minister for taking a personal interest in the matter by addressing issues within the existing system.

“We welcome such transparency and accountability. We hope the ministry will make public the other members of this committee, and how NGOs can work with the ministry and Perhilitan to make the process more credible,” said its senior communication officer Elizabeth John.

Both WWF and Traffic called for guidelines for special permits application, a mechanism for monitoring permit holders and a review process.

Under the Protection of Wildlife Act 1972, totally protected species or species on Schedules One and Three include highly endangered mammals, reptiles and marine creatures like the orang utan, tiger, rhinoceros, dolphin, crocodile and certain snakes and lizards as well as 454 species of birds.

Animal rights groups, however, called on Uggah to make public the results of the investigation into alleged mismanagement and corruption within Perhilitan.

Uggah had said that a special audit unit had been set up to review the rules and procedures of all enforcement agencies under the ministry, which includes Perhilitan.

It is learnt that the unit was formed following a Starprobe report last August featuring notorious wildlife trader Anson Wong, who denied that he was protected but spoke approvingly of a high-ranking Perhi­litan official.

President of Malaysia Animal Rights Society (ROAR) N. Surendran said the ministry must view seriously the report lodged against the official with the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission.

“It is highly improper for someone in a position like the official to be supporting a convicted trafficker by renewing his special permit while he served a sentence for wildlife trafficking in the United States,” he said.

Read more!

19 bears rescued from bear bile farm in Vietnam

Thirst for bear bile grows in Asia; 19 bears rescued in Vietnam after being milked for years
Margie Mason, Associated Press Yahoo News 22 Jan 10;

TAN UYEN, Vietnam (AP) -- The three tractor-trailer containers sat in a row, divided with metal partitions into 19 tiny, sweltering cells.

Massive claws and furry black noses poked between the iron bars: 19 rare Asiatic moon bears awaiting their next gall bladder milking. Their bile is a coveted traditional medicine ingredient used to treat everything from hemorrhoids to epilepsy.

Some paced nervously inside the cages, panting and foaming at the mouth with wild bloodshot eyes. Others laid in their urine and feces, resting on the cool concrete floor. They devoured the bananas and chunks of watermelon -- including the rinds -- offered to them, a welcome treat from their usual diet of rice gruel.

The bears were found at an illegal Taiwanese-owned operation in southern Vietnam. On Friday, four days after being hoisted onto tractor trailers and driven 1,240 miles (2,000 kilometers) north, they reached a new home with grass and tire swings at a rescue center about two hours outside of Hanoi, the capital.

The newly rescued bears -- two of them missing limbs and one blind -- were sedated and removed one-by-one from their tiny cages Friday at Tam Dao National Park. They are joining 29 bears already at the rescue center.

Ultrasound tests found evidence of thickened gall bladders, a telltale sign of milking, said Animals Asia veterinarian Heather Bacon. She said some may need to have the organ removed because of extensive damage.

Many of the black bears, some standing 6 feet (1.8 meters) tall on their hind legs and weighing 330 pounds (150 kilograms), have been caged since being snatched from the wild as cubs up to seven years ago, said Tuan Bendixsen of Animals Asia Foundation in Vietnam, which rescued the bears this week.

Bear bile has been used for thousands of years in Asia to treat fevers, pain, inflammation and many other ailments. In the 1980s, China began promoting bear farms as a way to discourage poaching. The bears were housed in small cages, and the green bitter fluid was sucked from their gall bladders using crude catheters, sometimes creating pus-filled abscesses or internal bile leakage. Many bears die slowly from infections or liver ailments, including cancer.

The idea caught on in Vietnam and elsewhere as demand grew alongside the region's increasing wealth. Bear bile products are also illegally smuggled into Chinatowns worldwide. An informal survey by the World Society for the Protection of Animals found 75 percent of stores visited in Japan selling bear bile products, followed by 42 percent in South Korea. In the U.S. and Canada, it was about 15 percent.

Bear bile harvesting remains legal in China, where the government says 7,000 bears are milked on about 250 farms, though animal welfare groups say the real number could be double that. Demand for illegal wild bear bile, believed to be more potent, is also increasing, they say.

Amid international pressure, Vietnam outlawed the milking practice in 2005, and some 4,000 bears in captivity were implanted with microchips to help identify any new bears added illegally. Owners were warned not to tap them for bile. But the practice continues, and a black market thrives.

"We want this industry to end. Government has decided to phase this out, and we understand it's going to take time," said Chris Gee from the World Society for the Protection of Animals in England. "Across the whole of Asia there's probably 20,000 bears on bear farms."

Last year, a farm in northern Vietnam was raided for selling bile to busloads of South Koreans, who watched it being extracted as part of their sightseeing tours. Some of the farms in Vietnam are owned by South Koreans and Taiwanese.

"They're more organized and bigger. They're run like a business now," said Bendixsen. "It's part of a package tour."

Bear bile contains a high concentration of ursodeoxycholic acid. A synthetic version is sold as a pill and used in Western medicine for treating gall stones and liver ailments.

The pill is sold in China but cannot be used in traditional medicine because it is not derived from a natural source.

In a paper published last year, Yibin Feng from the School of Chinese Medicine at the University of Hong Kong suggested herbal substitutes that produce the same healing elements for various ailments could replace bear bile.

Another option is to use bile taken from slaughtered pigs or rabbits, which contains lower concentrations of ursodeoxycholic acid, or use artificial bear bile, which has a similar chemical makeup and produces the same medicinal effects.

"We found some animal bile and plants have better effects than bear bile in some diseases," Feng said. "Given all these, people in China should accept these alternatives. Of course, some people in mainland insist that no matter how close those substitutes can be, it is still not as good as the real ones."

The moon bears, named for the tan crescent-shape marking across their chests, will remain in quarantine for 45 days. They will then be moved to a building with large living cells where they will learn to mingle with other bears, before moving to a bear house where they can play outside in an enclosure with trees, grass, tunnels and swings.

They'll also be spoiled with dollops of honey and peanut butter.

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Mekong tiger population plunges to 'crisis point': WWF

Yahoo News 26 Jan 10;

BANGKOK (AFP) – Governments must act decisively to prevent the extinction of tigers in Southeast Asia's Greater Mekong region, where numbers have plunged more than 70 percent in 12 years, the WWF said Tuesday.

The wild tiger population across Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam has dropped from an estimated 1,200 in 1998 -- the last Year of Tiger -- to around 350 today, according to the conservation group.

The report was released ahead of a landmark three-day conference on tiger conservation, which will be attended in the Thai resort town of Hua Hin from Wednesday by ministers from 13 Asian tiger range countries.

It said the regional decline was reflected in the global wild tiger population, which is at an all-time low of 3,200, down from an estimated 20,000 in the 1980s and 100,000 a century ago.

"Today, wild tiger populations are at a crisis point," the WWF said, ahead of the start of the Year of the Tiger on February 14, according to the Chinese lunar calendar.

It cited growing demand for tiger body parts used in traditional Chinese medicine as a major factor endangering the region's Indochinese tiger population.

Infrastructure developments were also blamed by the report for fragmenting tigers' habitats, such as roads cutting through forests.

"Decisive action must be taken to ensure this iconic sub-species does not reach the point of no return," said Nick Cox, coordinator of the WWF Greater Mekong tiger programme.

"There is a potential for tiger populations in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia to become locally extinct by the next Year of the Tiger, in 2022, if we don't step up actions to protect them."

Although Indochinese tigers were once found in abundance across the Greater Mekong region, the WWF says there are now no more than 30 tigers per country in Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam.

The remaining populations are mainly found in mountainous border areas between Thailand and Myanmar. But the WWF is calling on the ministers in Hua Hin to take action to double the numbers of wild tigers by 2022.

"This region has huge potential to increase tiger numbers, but only if there are bold and coordinated efforts across the region and of an unprecedented scale that can protect existing tigers, tiger prey and their habitat," said Cox.

Worldwide political efforts to secure the tiger's future will culminate in a Tiger Summit in September in Vladivostok, Russia, hosted by Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.

"There is an unprecedented opportunity to galvanise political will and action to turn the tide on wild tiger numbers," said Mike Baltzer, head of WWF's global tiger initiative.

"But to do this, we must stop the trade in tiger parts, rampant poaching, and secure the tiger's habitats."

Indochinese tigers on brink of extinction: WWF
Reuters 26 Jan 10;

BANGKOK (Reuters) - Tigers in the Greater Mekong region are facing extinction, their numbers down more than 70 percent in slightly more than a decade due to poachers and habitat destruction, conservationists say.

A new report by wildlife group WWF says tiger populations in the region that includes Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam have fallen to 350 from an estimated 1,200 in 1998.

Globally, tiger populations are at an all-time low of 3,200, down from an estimated 5,000 to 7,000 some 12 years ago.

"Decisive action must be taken to ensure this iconic sub-species does not reach the point of no return," said Nick Cox, coordinator of the WWF Greater Mekong Tiger Programme.

"There is a potential for tiger populations in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia to become locally extinct by the next Year of the Tiger in 2022, if we don't step up actions to protect them," he added in a statement.

Tigers are being killed illegally to satisfy increasing demand for their body parts, which are used in traditional Chinese medicine. Destruction of their forest homes has also fueled the decline, said the report, released ahead of the Chinese lunar Year of the Tiger which beings next month.

Asian countries are a hotspot for the illegal wildlife trade, which the international police organization Interpol estimates may be worth more than $20 billion a year.

Tiger skins sell as rugs and cloaks on the black market, and can fetch up to $20,000 in countries like China.

The WWF said Indochinese tigers were once found in abundance across the Greater Mekong region, but today there are no more than 30 tigers in each of Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam.

The remaining animals are predominantly found in the Kayah Karen Tenasserim mountain border between Thailand and Myanmar.

Ministers from Asian "tiger-range" countries are meeting in Thailand on Tuesday to discuss tiger conservation. The WWF's Cox said the group would ask these officials to ramp up conservation efforts, mainly through protecting tiger habitats.

The Greater Mekong region contains the largest combined tiger habitat in the world, the group said.

"This region has huge potential to increase tiger numbers, but only if there are bold and coordinated efforts across the region and of an unprecedented scale that can protect existing tigers, tiger prey and their habitat," said Cox.

Tiger range states include Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Russia, Thailand and Vietnam.

The first Asian Ministerial Conference on Tiger Conservation, which runs from January 27-30, precedes a Tiger Summit which will be held in Russia this September.

(Writing by Miral Fahmy; Editing by Paul Tait)

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Five Tigers Spotted in Sumatra Villages

Jakarta Globe and Antara 25 Jan 10;

Only a few days after two Sumatran tigers were released back into the wild in the southern tip of Sumatra, two provinces in the same area are now on the hunt for five big cats that have been pestering residents in several villages.

The provincial Natural Resources Conservation Centers (BKSDA) of Bengkulu and Lampung have joined forces to capture the tigers that have been preying on livestock and pets in villages in Kaur district, Bengkulu.

“The Lampung BKSDA has deployed a team of five people to help us to capture the tigers,” said Sirajudin, spokesman from the Kaur district government.

The tigers were initially spotted around Tanjung Aur and Air Bacang villages, but they have since been seen in three other villages — Pardasuka, Arga Mulya, and Linau.

Sirajudin said the team would utilize traps or tranquilizers to capture the tigers and would then place them in quarantine in a special location before they were released into the jungles of Lampung.

“I have instructed the villagers to stay alert because the presence of the tigers can go undetected and we think that they are wandering around in the villages,” said Suarni Muhidin, deputy head of the Kaur district, adding that the villagers were being told to build bonfires at night to keep the tigers at bay.

Only about 400 Sumatran tigers are believed to be left in Indonesia. Deforestation has destroyed much of their habitat and they are hunted for traditional medicines and illegal menageries.

Based on Ministry of Forestry data, an average of 33 tigers are killed each year — often to be stuffed or for their fur — though more killings go unrecorded.

On Friday, Forestry Minister Zulkifli Hasan ordered two Sumatran tigers to be released into the jungle on the southern tip of Sumatra Island after a lengthy rehabilitation process at a tiger rescue-center at the Tambling Wildlife Nature Conservation.

Panti, a 6-year-old female tiger, and Buyung, an 8-year-old male, are now roaming free in the 385,000-hectare Bukit Barisan Selatan National Park, joining an estimated 45 Sumatran tigers living there.


JG, Antara

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Bangladesh tiger plan aims to cut clashes with humans

Anis Ahmed, Reuters 25 Jan 10;

DHAKA (Reuters) - Bangladesh launched on Monday a program to train field staff in the Sundarban forest, home to Bengal tigers, to prevent contacts between villagers and the animals that may lead to tragedy for both.

Under a Bangladesh Tiger Action Plan, forest rangers and guards will learn to use tranquilizer guns to immobilize and capture tigers that stray from their normal habitat into human areas.

Tapan Kumar Dey, a senior forestry official, told reporters human-tiger conflicts registered a rise in Bangladesh in recent years, resulting in the deaths of three tigers and 30 people in 2009.

Dey said 193 people and 23 tigers have been killed in such encounters since 2000.

Another tiger casualty was reported on Friday in the southern district of Satkhira, where villagers initially tried to scare off a five-year-old tigress but eventually captured her and beat her to death.

The animal was the first tiger killed in Bangladesh this year, forestry officials said.

The tigers of Sundarban, better known as Royal Bengal tigers, usually feed on deer and wild boars but often slip into villages on the fringe of the world's largest mangrove forest -- recently designated by the U.N. as a world heritage site -- to steal cows and goats from farmers' sheds.

According to a survey by forest authorities in 2004, the Bangladesh part of the Sundarban, part of which lies in India, had 440 tigers.

Forestry officials believe strict enforcement of anti-poaching laws and better conservation efforts helped the tiger population rise since then, although they were unable to give a specific number.

According to the Bangladesh forests department, the number of tigers worldwide has fallen from around 100,000 in 1900, but in recent years was only about 3,200, with several tiger species now extinct.

The Royal Bengals are among the biggest groups still surviving.

The tigers who enter village areas or raid farms for livestock are usually too young or too old to kill enough deer to satiate their hunger, officials said.

(Editing by Jerry Norton)

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African coalition urges EU to block new ivory sales

Yahoo News 25 Jan 10;

BRUSSELS (AFP) – African nations on Monday urged European governments to resist calls for a new round of legal ivory sales and protect the world's elephant population.

Representatives of the 17-country Coalition for the African Elephant came to Brussels seeking support after Tanzania and Zambia each requested fresh authorisations from international regulators.

"We are asking the European Union to take a clear stance in support of a nine-year moratorium adopted in 2007 by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES)," Kenyan Forest and Fauna Minister Noah Wekesa told journalists.

Experts say some 38,000 African elephants are killed each year for their tusks -- out of total numbers of perhaps half a million.

With black market sales on the rise again, some nations that consider their elephant populations to be out of danger are arguing stocks of the precious ivory should be sold legally.

Tanzania wants to be able to sell 90 tonnes of ivory, and Zambia 22 tonnes, but both need permission from the CITES international body when it next meets in Doha, Qatar, from March 13 to 25.

A 1989 ban on ivory sales, a measure destined to protect the African elephant and rhino, was relaxed in June 2007 under a compromise that prolonged the moratorium but allowed Botswana, Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe to make a one-off sale of 108 tonnes to buyers in China and Japan.

"The EU plays a major role within CITES," Wekesa insisted. "If it abstains during this vote, it will contribute towards worsening an already critical situation.

"The last elephants in Sierra Leone have been slaughtered by poachers only in the last few months," he warned.

The EU's common position has yet to be worked out, said liberal Dutch lawmaker Gerben-Jan Gerbrandy.

"Britain, France, the Netherlands and Spain don't yet know what they will do, although they are inclined towards backing Tanzania's call," he said.

"If the 27 member states cannot agree, they abstain -- which will be the equivalent of a green light to the poachers," Gerbrandy warned.

A negotiator told AFP on Monday that member states were "working to find a consensus to ensure African elephants are protected".

Save the elephant: ivory trading is set to resume
Britain urged to oppose demands from Tanzania and Zambia to lift ban on tusk sales / Conservationists fear the move would intensify slaughter of elephants
Michael McCarthy, The Independent 25 Jan 10;

Two African countries are trying to open a new breach in the worldwide ivory trade ban, which conservationists fear could lead to more African elephants being slaughtered by poachers.

Environmental campaigners called on Britain to take a clear lead in opposing the proposals by Tanzania and Zambia to sell their ivory stocks, which will be voted on at the next meeting of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) in Qatar in March.

Other African countries, led by Kenya and Mali, are strongly opposed to the idea, and are sending representatives to Brussels this week to urge the European Union not to support it. If it went ahead, the sale would be the third "one-off" auction of ivory since the world ban came into force, 20 years ago last week.

The ban was initially successful in halting the huge scale of elephant killing of the 1980s, when Africa's elephant population crashed from 1,300,000 to 625,000 in a mere decade. But following the most recent sale, in November 2008, of 100 tonnes of ivory owned by Botswana, Namibia, Zimbabwe and South Africa – bought by dealers from China and Japan – there has been a notable upsurge in worldwide seizures of illegal ivory, and of elephant poaching. It is thought that the resumption of any trading creates a market into which illegal poached ivory can be laundered, thus boosting demand for it.

In some Central and West African countries this is now pushing elephant populations to extinction. Chad is thought to have only a few hundred elephants and Senegal and Liberia may have fewer than 10; Sierra Leone's last elephants were wiped out by poachers in November.

In Kenya, whose wildlife protection measures are among the strongest in Africa, the number of elephants killed by poachers rose from 47 in 2007, to 98 in 2008, and 214 in 2009. Reports suggest that at least 15 tonnes of African ivory tusks and pieces – the equivalent of up to 1,500 elephants – were seized in, or en route to, Asia in the past year.

Yet the British Government has declined to offer unequivocal opposition to a new one-off sale. "The global ban on international trade in ivory imposed in 1989 remains firmly in place and the UK strongly supports this," said the Wildlife minister, Huw Irranca-Davies. "CITES is assessing the likely effects of another one-off sale, but rigorous enforcement of protection for the planet's endangered species must be paramount, and be the driving force behind CITES' recommendations."

Conservationists say CITES' recommendations regarding the last two sales, in 1997 as well as 2008, were that they should go ahead, and in both cases, Britain, as part of the European Union voting block within the convention, did not oppose them.

"The African elephant population is in crisis, and it's not enough for the British government to take a 'wait and see approach'," Caroline Lucas, the MEP and leader of Britain's Green Party, said last night. "Instead of hiding behind advice from officials, ministers should show leadership by giving a clear guarantee now that they will oppose a further one-off sale."

Allan Thornton, head of the Environmental Investigation Agency, the Washington and London-based pressure group which provided much of the evidence of poaching which led to the original ban, said: "The present level of poaching as a result of the illegal ivory trade is already devastating and wiping out elephant populations across Africa. If this new sale went ahead it would be throwing fuel on the fire. Britain is represented on the standing committee of CITES and should take a lead role in opposing this."

Tanzania and Zambia want to sell their stocks of legally acquired ivory (from culling, or from elephants which have died naturally) which amount to 90 tonnes and 22 tonnes respectively, worth a total of $16m. They also want their elephant populations "downlisted" from CITES' Appendix 1 (which prohibits all trade in the species) to Appendix 2 (which allows trade if it is monitored).

When CITES sanctioned the last ivory auction in 2007, it was agreed that there would be no more such one-off sales for at least nine years, and Tanzania and Zambia are seen as having reneged on this. Their move has aroused resentment and anger among other African states which have elephant populations and wish to protect them. Congo, Ghana, Kenya, Liberia, Mali, Rwanda and Sierra Leone, have tabled a counter-proposal for the March meeting, calling for a 20-year moratorium on any such sales, from the date of the last one.

And delegates from the 23-government African Elephant Coalition (AEC) are in Brussels aiming to persuade the EU Commision, the European Parliament and EU member states, to oppose the new sale, with the Kenyan Forestry and Wildlife Minister, Noah Wekesa, giving a press conference to detail recent poaching.

"This is really the last call for elephants in Africa," said Bourama Niagate, director of parks and natural reserves in Mali. "The devastating poaching of the 1980s first controlled through CITES is now so prevalent that the African elephant is all but extinct in some countries. This is because limited legal sales were allowed in the recent past providing the perfect cover for illegal trade in poached ivory.

"If we do not let elephant populations recover over the next 20 years by stopping the trade entirely, there will be no more African elephants outside a few zoological specimens in reserves in southern parts of Africa. Europe needs to do the right thing and back our stance now because it is nearly too late."

Ivory ban: A sad history

*1989: Member states of CITES agree at their meeting in Lausanne, Switzerland, to place the African elephant on CITES' Appendix One, meaning all all trade in elephant products, ivory, is banned around the world.

1990: The ban comes into force, halting the rapid crash of elephant populations caused by poaching. Poaching levels drop substantially across Africa.

1997: Led by Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe, inset, four southern African states with substantial elephant populations – Zimbabwe, South Africa, Namibia and Botswana – get CITES to agree to a "one-off" sale of 50 tonnes of ivory. Britain goes along with it. Poaching rises.

2007-08: The same four African states get CITES to agree to another "one-off" sale, this time of 100 tonnes. Britain goes along, despite warnings that it will increase poaching. AndChina is allowed by CITES to become an official ivory buyer, in spite of harbouring the largest amount of illegal ivory. Britain goes along with it, despite warning this too will increase poaching, which soars.

2010: Tanzania and Zambia seek a third "one-off" sale. Will Britain go along with it? Time will tell.

Britain to oppose sale of stockpiled ivory
Third 'one-off' auction will revive illegal poaching trade, say conservationists
Michael McCarthy, The Independent 26 Jan 10;

Britain will vote against the proposed sale of stockpiled ivory from Tanzania and Zambia, which conservationists fear would lead to further slaughter of African elephants, the Environment Secretary Hilary Benn said last night.

After a day in which opposition spokesmen called for an explicit statement on Britain's position, Mr Benn made it unequivocally clear that the UK would oppose the proposed sale, which will be voted on at the next meeting of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) in Qatar in March. Should it go ahead, the Tanzania-Zambia sale, detailed in the The Independent yesterday, will be the third such "one-off" ivory auction to have taken place since the international ban on the trade was brought in 20 years ago this month to halt the catastrophic plunge in African elephant populations at the hands of ivory poachers.

Although the ban was at first successful in halting the decline, the two sales of ivory from four southern African countries – the first in 1997, the second in 2008 – are considered by conservationists to have considerably weakened the ban by reviving a legal ivory market into which illegal, poached tusks can be laundered.

The second sale of ivory, from South Africa, Namibia, Botswana and Zimbabwe, is believed to have triggered a considerable revival of the illegal trade with a consequent upsurge in poaching over the past year. In several West African countries, such as Senegal, elephant populations are on the verge of extinction.

To the dismay of conservationists, Britain did not oppose the two "one-off" ivory sales, and environmental campaigners feared that Britain would go along with the third.

But last night Mr Benn took a clear stance against the sale, saying: "At the CITES meeting in March, the UK will vote against the proposals from Tanzania and Zambia to sell ivory stocks, and we would urge other countries to vote against such a sale."

However, he appeared to leave the door open for possible future auctions when he added: "In 2008, the members of the CITES agreed to a single, one-off sale of legal, stockpiled ivory from countries with stable elephant populations. The sale was intended to reduce demand for illegal poached ivory.

"The UK will not consider other sales of ivory until the effects of last-year's sale have been fully analysed." Environmental campaigners fear this means Britain will not oppose a second request at the meeting from Tanzania and Zambia that their elephant stocks be "downlisted" from the CITES's Appendix One to Appendix Two, meaning that eventually some trade in elephant products such as ivory can be resumed.

Yesterday, both the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats called on ministers to clarify the Government's opposition to the proposed sale, which is also opposed by a number of African countries, led by Kenya and Mali, who have sent representatives to Brussels this week to lobby the European Union to oppose it.

At a press conference in the Belgian capital yesterday, the Kenyan minister for forestry and wildlife, Dr Noah Wekesa, said: "As elephant poaching reaches heights not seen for decades and the volume of illegal ivory seized soars, the African Elephant Coalition, representing the majority of African elephant range states, is appealing to the European Union to take urgent and immediate action to prevent the further slaughter of elephants across much of Africa."

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Jakarta’s Last Mangrove Forest Opens to Public

Fidelis E Satriastanti, Jakarta Globe 26 Jan 10;

Following the resolution of a 12-year dispute with local fish farmers, the Angke Kapuk Nature Reserve — the last mangrove forest in Jakarta — was finally opened to the public on Monday as a recreation, education and mangrove preservation site.

The dispute over the area, located in North Jakarta just a few kilometers from Soekarno-Hatta International Airport, involved fish farmers who have been managing their ponds at the nature reserve for years.

The farmers objected to the Ministry of Forestry’s decision in 1998 to grant concessionaire rights to PT Murinda Karya Lestari to manage the 100-hectare nature reserve for the next 30 years, not only as a mangrove rehabilitation center, but also as a location dedicated to tourism and education purposes.

Forestry Minister Zulkifli Hasan said during the opening of the nature reserve that the dispute stemmed from the local people’s limited understanding of the meaning of conservation areas.

“This place used to be covered with illegal ponds managed by only a few people, but as a conservation area it will bring greater benefits to more people, not only North Jakarta residents, but everyone,” Zulkifli said.

“This is the only mangrove forest left in Jakarta. That is why we need to explain to [the fish farmers] that this area also functions as part of the city’s green space, [which is quite small] considering Jakarta has only put aside 5 percent of its total area for this purpose, even though regulations stipulate it should be 30 percent,” he added.

Arief Toengkagie, head of the Jakarta Natural Resources Conservation Center, said that only 10 percent of the reserve was being used for development purposes while the remainder was for mangrove conservation.

“This is different from the Muara Angke Wildlife Reserve [only 25 hectares located in North Jakarta], which is dedicated to research with no other human activities allowed,” he said. “However, we are continuing our mangrove replanting program in Angke Kapuk and so far we have managed to plant 60 percent of the area.”

Arief added that the nature reserve could attract up to 100 visitors per month, who would be able to stay for two nights for a minimum Rp 3 million ($320). Zulkifli added that the reserve could also attract foreign tourists.

Arief said: “Now we have set up gazebos, coffee shops, camp grounds and even a bird watching facility.”

Zulfiki said that illegal fish farming in the conservation area would be punishable by 10 years in prison and a Rp 1 billion fine.

Bambang Sugiyono, the North Jakarta mayor, said his municipality had been given a huge task by the Jakarta governor of establishing a green belt in order to decrease the effects of flooding in the capital.

City has first mangrove conservation park
The Jakarta Post 27 Jan 10;

Eco-tourism lovers now have a new location in which to enjoy nature and preserve it at the same time at the newly opened Angke Kapuk natural tourism park in North Jakarta.

Inaugurated on Monday by Forestry Minister Zulkifli Hasan, the 99.8 hectare swampy park, set up help preserving millions of mangrove trees, dozens of rare birds, turtles, monitor lizards and sea animals, features a restaurant, bathrooms, playground and 38 wooden huts. Other facilities include canoes and rubber boats.

"The Angke Kapuk natural tourism park is the second of its kind in Indonesia after Ngurah Rai Forest Park. I hope this park, located near the Soekarno-Hatta International Airport, can become a major foreign tourist destination," Zulkifli said at the inauguration ceremony.

Visitors to the site, located next to Muara Angke mangrove conservation forest and the upscale Pantai Indah Kapuk housing complex, can also see rare birds from all over the world, Bambang A. Putra, the marketing director of the park's management firm PT Murindra Karya Lestari, said,

"Visitors can view the birds using binoculars in the watching tower," Bambang said, adding that the park was a transit point for various species of birds.

"Even the Sunda coucal *Centropus nigrorufus*, a vulnerable spe-cies, can be found in the park," Bambang said.

He added that he expected companies could make use of the park for gatherings or for corporate social responsibility activities.

"Many companies have planted mangroves here even before the opening," he said.

Murindra president director Murniwati Harahap said that apart from the Rp 10,000 (US$1) entrance fee, visitors could join a package tour for Rp 100,000.

"They can plant two mangrove trees and have their names carved on a plank near the trees. We will take care of the trees for two years."

Murniwati said she hoped the park would attract children "because they are the next custodians of nature".

Families can rent wooden huts of various sizes from between Rp 350,000 to Rp 1.5 million per night.

It took 12 years for Murindra to transform the land, which was a wild mangrove forest threatened by illegal fishing.

"After obtaining a license to manage the area 12 years ago, we began planting new mangrove trees," Murniwati said.

"Residents used to chop down the mangrove trees to build fish farms," she added.

"It was very difficult to grow mangroves. Frequently, farmers would illegally chopped down the trees right after we planted them. Now, we have fenced off the surrounding area to prevent similar occurrences.

"The farmers did not realize that mangrove trees protect the area from land erosion, storm surges and even tsunamis. Mangroves also filter out pollutants from sea water," she elaborated.

The Forestry Ministry, North Jakarta municipality and local police said they would enforce the legal protection of the mangrove forest by implementing the 1999 Forestry Law, which carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison for anyone who damages mangroves or captures animals within the park.

North Jakarta Mayor Bambang Sugiyono welcomed the new park, saying it would help the municipality revive its mangrove forest.

The park will add to the expansion of the city's green zones, increasing the area from 179.56 hectares at present to 334.7 hectares in the future, Sugiyono said. (mrs)

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Private sector outlines plan to protect Coral Triangle

WWF 25 Jan 10;

Seafood, travel and tourism operators in the Coral Triangle made a joint declaration reduce the impact of their businesses on the world’s most important marine region.

More than 160 delegates gathered last week in the Philippine capital Manila for the Coral Triangle Business Summit to reach agreements on how their industries could contribute to the protection of the Coral Triangle and the 120 million livelihoods that depend on its marine resources.

Participants included leaders from tuna and live reef fish businesses, airlines and resort owners, as well as government ministers and officials, and non-government organizations.

In the seafood sector, fishing operators and buyers agreed to address the problem of overcapacity and overfishing through a number of measures including ensuring that fish are not sourced from illegal operations as well as implementing catch and trade documentation schemes to ensure traceability.

Participants also agreed to promote low carbon fish production methods and trade practices.

Martin Brugman, president of global seafood supplier Culimer B.V said one of the issues discussed was how adding value to fish could help operators to better address the problem of overfishing.

“Ultra-low temperature production of tuna for example allows for better quality fish when it’s landed and helps fishermen get by taking less fish from the oceans but making more dollars,” said Mr Brugman.

Cebu Air used the summit to significantly extend its program to help protect Apo Reef in the Philippines. ‘Bright skies for Juan’ is an initiative that allows consumers to donate money with each flight to a WWF climate change adaptation program to protect the Philippines’ largest coral reef.

Head of WWF’s Coral Triangle Program Dr Lida Pet Soede said the summit had been a huge success and had laid some strong foundations for greater participation of the private sector in the protection of the Coral Triangle.

“This first ever Coral Triangle Business Summit has been a great success and the private sector has shown it is willing to take greater responsibility for the millions of livelihoods that depend on the health of the marine environment in this part of the world,” Dr Pet Soede said.

The Summit was organized by the Philippine Department of Agriculture and the Philippine Department of the Environment and Natural Resources in collaboration with WWF and with the support of USAID.

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Campaign to save tropical forests failed by food giants

Project to create sustainable palm oil project undermined by Western firms
Martin Hickman, The Independent 25 Jan 10;

Western food manufacturers are buying so little sustainable palm oil that the system set up to limit damage to tropical forests caused by the world's cheapest vegetable oil is in danger of collapse. Palm-oil producers say the industry may quit the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) because so few firms are financially backing the scheme.

Houshold products giant Unilever and the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) founded the RSPO seven years ago, to encourage producers of the oil, used in products such as biscuits and margarine, to minimise forest destruction, greenhouse gas emissions and loss of endangered wildlife, such as tigers and orangutans. Palm oil is in hundreds of branded foods such as Kit Kat and Hovis and household products such as Dove soap and Persil washing powder.

The first certified RSPO supplies arrived in Europe in November 2008, yet only 27 per cent of present supply has so been sold, leading to claims of hypocrisy among Western buyers. Tesco, Asda, Morrisons, Procter & Gamble, Nestle, Allied Bakeries and even Unilever did not buy any separate certified RSPO oil last year, though Tesco and Asda "offset" small quantities by buying GreenPalm certificates for Rspo production elsewhere.

Only Sainsbury has bought significant quantities of RSPO oil separated from other sources, for 10 per cent of its range. United Biscuits, Unilever, Waitrose aim to switch to a sustainable supply within two years. Most companies have set a date of 2015 for converting their ranges, complaining that they cannot easily source certified sustainable supplies.

Dato' Azhar Abdul Hamid, plantations managing director of the world's biggest palm-oil producer, Sime Darby, said: "The rate of take up is very, very slow. The industry is producing more supply of certified palm oil than the market is buying. It's disappointing to see that. We were always hoping demand would always be ahead of supply, because that is what the world wanted. More specifically, it was what Europe wanted."

He rejected the suggestion, often made by UK manufacturers, that too little certificated oil was available. "They claim to be interested, but they're not doing it. If the UK consumer insists on it, then whether the producers like it or not, they will have to make RSPO work."

According to WWF, manufacturers bought 343,857 tonnes of RSPO oil last year, 27 per cent of the 1.27 million tonnes available. A segregated supply costs about 10 per cent more but that is expected to fall a few per cent this year when New Britain Palm Oil opens an £18m refinery in Liverpool capable of handling 150,000 tonnes of certified oil. United Biscuits, which makes Jammie Dodgers and Jaffa Cakes, and the Italian chocolate company Ferrero have signed long-term contracts for the plant. Others have not done so, yet.

New Britain estimates certifying the UK's entire annual supply would cost 12p per person. Its, executive director, Alan Chaytor said: "We were the second company to be certified and we have only sold a few thousand tonnes but, in the end, you have to to have the infrastructure where you can deliver that [certified oil] to the customers who want it. It's going to take money, and commitment."

Asda said: "Over the next 12 to 24 months, our own-label supply base will begin sourcing physically segregated RSPO palm oil. As a result, our new stated target is to source all of our palm oil from RSPO sustainable sources by 2015. But clearly we hope to meet this target early." Tesco said: "To ensure we achieve our target of using 100 per cent certified sustainable palm oil by 2015, we have issued all of our suppliers with a timeline and code of practice to achieve that target."

Food Manufacture magazine quoted one supplier as saying: "We have had a chat about it but we haven't been told to do anything yet by Asda or Tesco."

Palm-oil production has exploded in the past 10 years on the South-east Asian islands of Borneo and Sumatra, providing work for one million people, but the expansion has a high environmental and human cost, destroying hundreds of square miles of virgin rainforest and displacing native people. Now producers, having started to exhaust legally allowed concessions in Asia, want to plant oil palm in the tropical forests of West Africa and the Amazon.

Britain has become increasingly concerned about palm oil's role in deforestation which causes 20 per of global emissions. Planting of palm oil on cleared lowland peat forests in Indonesia released especially strong methane gas.

Hilary Benn, Secretary of State for the Environment, is tracking the quantity and use of palm oil in the UK. "Even though solutions are often local, this is everyone's business, because what happens in Indonesia, the Democratic Republic of Congo or Brazil doesn't stay there," he said. "It affects us all."

Palm oil: The good firms – and the bad

*VERY GOOD

United Biscuits: Committed to converting to RSPO by end of 2011

Unilever: Committed to converting by 2012

Waitrose: Committed to converting by 2012

Sainsbury's: Has bought RSPO for 10 per cent of supply. Committed to converting entire range by 2014

*GOOD

Cadbury: Offsetting all current supply with cheaper GreenPalm certificates. Committed to coverting by 2014

Marks & Spencer: Offsetting all current supply with GreenPalm certificates. Committed to converting by 2015

*AVERAGE

Mars: Aims to convert 25 per cent of range to Rspo this year. Committed to converting entire range by 2015

Co-op: Has bought some sustainable oil and converting 32 biscuit lines to Rspo by June. Committed to converting entire range to Rspo by 2015

*POOR

Tesco: Bought unspecified quantity of GreenPalm certificates for in-store bakery and a few other products. Committed to converting by 2015

Asda: Bought GreenPalm certificates for 712 tonnes used in in-store cafés. Committed to converting by 2015. To buy RSPO in "next 12 to 24 months"

Nestlé: Committed to converting by 2015

Procter & Gamble: Committed to converting by 2015

Allied Bakeries: Committed to converting by 2015

Morrisons: Talking to suppliers. Has set no date for moving to RSPO supply.

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Madagascar government’s logging policy threatens the island’s natural heritage

WWF 25 Jan 10;

Madagascar’s government decision to allow the export of endangered rosewood may have disastrous consequences for some of the country’s unique plant and animal species, and further impoverish the large island state.

Under past Malagasy legislation it was illegal to export rosewood timber that is not processed but the prime minister recently extended an order legalizing the export of illegally harvested wood.

Containers and multiple stockpiles of rosewood that are still in and around several ports in the island’s north can now easily leave the country, which is one of the world’s richest biodiversity hotspots.

“We strongly condemn the extension of the order as it only benefits a couple of wood operators while the Malagasy population is deprived of their natural heritage and are left poorer than ever,” said Niall O’Connor, Regional Representative of WWF Madagascar and West Indian Ocean Programme Office.

“The Prime ministers comments now opens the doors for further logging in the National Parks which puts short-term financial benefits over the interest of Malagasy people.”

In past years, Madagascar has undertaken significant efforts to stop environmental degradation, manage natural resources and preserve its unique biodiversity.

But political mayhem following a military coup in March led to the exploitation and devastation of several national parks which are home to hundreds of species unique to Madagascar.

Masoala and Marojejy National Parks and Mananara Biosphere Reserve, were severely hit by ongoing logging activities with Masoala, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, being affected most.

“This situation completely undermines years of work and millions of dollars which were spent to try to preserve the treasures of Madagascar,” O’Connor says.

In recent years, timber traders have repeatedly said logs they've harvested were the result of cyclones. With protected areas being among the only places where precious wood trees are still fairly common, these forests will be targeted further, says O’Connor.

A report titled Investigation into the illegal felling, transport and export of precious woods in SAVA region Madagascar, published at the end of November 2009 by Global Witness, stated that “the team observed intensive logging of rosewood trees in the northeast of Masoala National Park, and transport of logs to Antalaha.
The intensive transport of rosewood in broad daylight, on sections of road policed by Gendarmerie posts, both to the south and to the north of Antalaha, demonstrates a serious breakdown in the rule of law – if not the active collusion of law enforcement authorities with illegal timber traffickers.”

Illegal logging continues in Masoala National Park with a possible shift from rosewood towards Palissander, another precious wood found in the moist forests of Madagascar.

Missouri Botanical Garden estimated the minimum number of rosewood trees cut in the northeastern protected areas at 45,750 for Marojejy National Park and the northern sector of Masoala National Park, and at a minimum of 7,750 and 15,500 from Makira Natural Park and the southern sector of Masoala National Park.

The authors further stated, that 170 containers were exported on Dec. 4 2009, 4 days after the inter-ministerial order from September ended. Rosewood worth more than 220 Million USD has already been exported, says the report.

Up to 20,000 hectares of protected forest could be affected by last year’s logging activities.
WWF’s Conservation Director in Madagascar, Nanie Ratsifandrihamanana says, that the consequences for affected ecosystems could be devastating.

“With thousands of not yet described plant and animal species in Madagascar, we don’t know how many of them depend directly on rosewood as a resource. We also don’t know to what extent logging activities were responsible for the decrease of lemur populations over the last year. But we fear that habitat disturbance and bush meat hunting will push several endemic species to the brink of extinction”

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Beijing mayor says city faces serious pollution

Reuters 25 Jan 10;

BEIJING (Reuters) - Beijing's mayor Guo Jinlong said on Monday that the Chinese capital faces an "extremely serious" pollution problem, unveiling a target for "blue sky days" below the number achieved for all of 2009.

Beijing is frequently enveloped in foul-smelling smog, the result of a private car boom on the back of breakneck economic growth, the rapid development of industry around the city, and a reliance on coal power stations for electricity.

Guo promised the city of 17 million would give greater priority to public transport by building bus lanes and new subway lines as well as raising the proportion of green energy resources used and removing high-emission vehicles from the road.

"The problems between population, resources and the environment are extremely serious," Guo told the opening session of Beijing's largely rubber stamp parliament, held at a conference center in a remote northern suburb.

He said the city will aim to have 73 percent of the days this year with air quality judged excellent or fairly good, known as "blue sky days." That works out at about 266 days, as opposed to 285 for 2009.

"We will control the total quantity of pollutants generated and undertake trial reforms in the trade of pollution discharge rights," Guo added, without elaborating.

"We will deepen the development strategy of giving priority for public transportation, and build a green commuting system that gives priority to rail transit and emphasizes surface public transportation," he said.

Beijing's notoriously poor air quality was put in the global spotlight ahead of the city's hosting of the 2008 Olympics, leading the government to launch a major clean-up campaign, including shutting down many dirty factories.

But more than a year after the Games, Beijing is still periodically shrouded by smog, endangering the health of residents and making the city a less attractive place for foreign executives and their families.

Guo told the more than 700 delegates that he hoped to turn Beijing into a "global city" and would "vigorously entice multinational corporations to set up their regional headquarters in Beijing."

(Reporting by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Jerry Norton)

Beijing mayor warns over city's development
Yahoo News 25 Jan 10;

BEIJING (AFP) – Beijing's mayor warned on Monday of "extremely serious" contradictions between protecting the capital's environment and maintaining rapid economic growth and development.

Guo Jinlong made the statements in his annual report to the city's legislature, during which he called for a 12 percent increase in consumption and an 11 percent increase in investment.

"There still exist a lot of difficulties and problems concerning the economic and social development of the capital," Guo said, according to the report posted on the city government website.

"The contradictions between the population, resources and the environment are extremely serious, making the demands of transforming faster our mode of development and adjusting the economic structure even more urgent."

Beijing's air pollution has long been listed as among the worst in the world amid a boom in private automobile sales, with the city regularly shrouded in an acrid haze.

The city's economy expanded by 10.1 percent in 2009, while urban per capita income grew by 9.7 percent to 26,740 yuan (3,900 dollars), Guo said.

Average living standards in Beijing improved in 2009, with per capita gross domestic product topping 10,000 dollars for the first time, official data showed Friday.

Guo urged greater investment in the city's public transport network and more spending on environmentally friendly vehicles and buses to address Beijing's traffic congestion and air pollution.

"We must earnestly implement... measures to control air pollution," Guo said, adding that the capital would target 266 days of at least fairly good air quality in 2010, down from 286 days in 2009.

Addressing Beijing's chronic water shortages, Guo said the city would aim to reduce water consumption in 2010 on a per capita basis.

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Anti-garbage campaigners plan mass Internet-led clean up

Yahoo News 26 Jan 10;

TALLINN (AFP) – Fed up with seeing the environment strewn with garbage, activists from around the globe aim to muster a million volunteers this year for a mass clean-up piloted via the Internet, organisers said Monday.

The "Let's Do It" operation is the brainchild of campaigners in Estonia, a small Baltic state which is a hub for nature-lovers and one of the world's most Internet-wired nations.

After a successful operation at home in 2008, when volunteers removed thousands of illegal rubbish dumps, the Estonians have shared their lessons with foreign campaigners at a conference that ended Monday.

"Since the campaign day in Estonia in May 2008 we have been contacted by people from dozens of states, from Japan to Brazil, setting up voluntary teams to organise similar campaigns in their homelands," Toomas Trapido, a lawmaker and a mastermind of the movement, told AFP.

Rainer Nolvak, an IT entrepreneur, board member of the Estonian Nature Fund, and fellow-mastermind told AFP that activists from Portugal to India plan events aiming to draw a total of a million people.

Like the Estonians, campaigners elsewhere will use special software and mobile phones to map and photograph illegal garbage dumps.

Having located the sites, they will call for clean-up volunteers.

Estonia's landmark one-day operation in 2008 mustered 50,000 people in the nation of 1.3 million. They collected 10,000 tonnes of rubbish.

"We had no idea that so many people would turn out and that the campaign would spread around the globe," Trapido said.

The Estonians set up a website, www.letsdoitworld.org, with tips for others.

A voluntary clean-up took place Saturday in part of the Indian capital Delhi, a pilot for a larger operation planned across the city in September.

In Europe, a clean-up is due in Portugal in March.

"We hope to gather up to 150,000 volunteers to follow Estonia's example," Portuguese IT professor and campaigner Francisco Moura told AFP in Tallinn.

Nara Petrovic, head of a campaign in Slovenia, said she aimed to gather 200,000 people there in April.

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Shell CEO says to scale back on oil sands: report

Reuters 25 Jan 10;

LONDON (Reuters) - Royal Dutch Shell is slowing its expansion into high-cost Canadian tar sands and will in future focus on exploration, rather than expensive, capital-intensive projects, Chief Executive Peter Voser said in Monday's edition of the Financial Times.

Analysts said the decision to slow oil sands investment was no surprise given Shell's relative inaction in the field in the past year or so but questioned whether Shell could halt a 7-year slide in output with the drill bit alone.

Voser said Shell had scaled down plans to increase tar sands production to 700,000 barrels per day.

"Over the past two years and certainly over the past six to eight months, I've taken the pace out of that because we have enough other growth opportunities," he told the newspaper.

Instead, Shell planned to rely more on conventional oil and gas reserves for future growth, he said, adding that Shell had become better at finding new oil and gas reserves after investing heavily in exploration.

Many oil sands developments were canceled in the latter half of 2008 as crude prices tumbled from record highs.

Environmental groups have also waged campaigns on oil sands projects, protesting about their impact on air, land, water and communities, while some Shell investors have also worried about the potential impacts of climate change legislation.

Colin Smith, oil analyst at ICAP, said that the scale back was unlikely to mean Shell had given up on new oil sands investment.

"Given the scale of the resource base in oil sands, of some 20 billion barrels, that Shell has -- which represents almost a third of Shell's total resource base -- we would be surprised if there was not progress on developing that potential within the medium term," he said.

(Reporting by Victoria Bryan and Tom Bergin; Editing by Diane Craft and Jon Loades-Carter)

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FACTBOX: What next on the global climate agenda?

Reuters 25 Jan 10;

(Reuters) - The Copenhagen climate accord lays out a broad path for progress in the fight against climate change and the United Nations hopes it will underpin ongoing negotiations to create a tougher, and legally binding, global treaty.

But the accord did not set out clear emissions reductions by 2020 or by mid-century, is not legally binding, made little mention of the existing Kyoto Protocol and has led to confusion on how nations can proceed.

Following are some likely next steps and concerns in global efforts to prevent dangerous climate change such as rising seas and more intense droughts, floods and snow storms.

THE DEADLINE - JAN 31

Nations that support the accord are meant to submit their 2020 greenhouse gas emission reduction steps to the United Nations by the end of this month for inclusion in the document.

Rich nations are meant to submit pledges for emissions cuts and developing nations can indicate what voluntary steps they will make, such as targets to cut carbon intensity or to ramp up renewable energy production.

The United Nations, though, expects the deadline to be flexible to give developing nations more time. Some analysts also expect the numbers to be provisional until the United States and other rich nations agree to tougher targets to slash emissions.

WHO SUPPORTS THE ACCORD?

The accord was not formally adopted in Copenhagen because of objections from several countries. While there seems to be broad global agreement, the exact number of supporting nations is unclear. The United Nations has asked countries to formally state if they wish to be associated with the accord by Jan 31.

WAITING FOR WASHINGTON

Many nations say the United States is the linchpin for global climate talks. Washington is under pressure to bring more to the bargaining table but its inability to offer a firm emissions reduction target or strong domestic action to cut carbon pollution is forcing some nations to hold back.

The Obama administration is trying to get its climate bill through the Senate but this is looking increasingly unlikely this year because of lack of support and other issues crowding his agenda, such as health care and looming mid-term elections.

CLIMATE CASH

The accord offers $30 billion in climate aid for poorer nations between 2010-12 and up to $100 billion by 2020. The United Nations hopes this will start to be paid out soon through existing institutions, such as the Global Environment Facility.

SO WHERE ARE WE HEADED?

The next major U.N. talks are May 31-June 11 in Bonn and then Mexico City, Nov 29-Dec 10. The United Nations wants negotiations to continue on the existing twin tracks, one under the Kyoto Protocol and a broader track that includes the United States, which never ratified Kyoto.

It doesn't want the accord to become a third track outside the world body, though some countries, such as the United States and France, feel a smaller group of nations, such as the G20, can be crucial in breaking deadlocks.

The BASIC group comprising China, India, Brazil and South Africa is also emerging as an alternative climate forum. The group met at the weekend and pledged to meet the Jan 31 deadline to submit their action plans to cut greenhouse gas emissions.

ONE TREATY OR TWO?

The ultimate aim of the U.N. talks is for all nations to sign a tougher, legally binding pact in which rich nations commit to bigger emissions cuts after Kyoto's first phase ends in 2012. Developing countries would commit to steps to brake the pace of their emissions growth.

Agreement on this might happen in Mexico or later.

The United Nations says the solution could be an extension of the Kyoto Protocol into a second phase from 2013 as many developing nations demand. There could also be a second treaty capturing the United States and rules that independently monitor nations' steps to curb emissions.

(Writing by David Fogarty; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)

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